Khy
Footballguy
I didn't know his 'unofficial' 40 time which is why I said "around a 4.4 runner" it was mainly just an eye test comment, when I watch him on film from Clemson and in the NFL he looks like a 4.4 runner to me. On the field in a straight line he looks no slower than Charles does to me who is a 4.4 runner.@ Khy:
You're completely talking out of your ### on a number of points.
Ellington doesn't have 4.4 speed. He ran an unofficial (ie hand timed) 4.51 at his pro day -- and times like that are notoriously inaccurate almost always in the player's favor. Yes, at < 200 lbs that's slooooow.
He isn't a 3rd round talent. We know for a fact that all 32 teams passed on him through the first five rounds. Anything beyond that is pure speculation, including possible reasons why. Of course it's possible that the NFL collectively whiffed, but history tells us it's very, very unlikely, as a simple glance at a multiyear list of 6th round RBs will make clear.
Re: the Cards' play calling, it's absolutely 100% necessary to have someone try to pound the ball up between the tackles, yes, even if its totally ineffective. With that o-line, if the Cards abandon the run, and the defensive front doesn't need to pay some attention to gap discipline, things will get much worse, not better. Arians probably sees Ellington as a space player, and probably thinks that adding a big chunk of inside carries would be counterproductive to both the team and Ellington himself. Given Ellington's physical profile, I don't see that as an untenable position. Obviously quite a few folks do. Time will tell.
Re: Charles / Johnson it's a totally irrelevant comparison to even bring up. Those two guys are outliers -- they succeed despite their size based on obvious, jaw-dropping physical gifts that Ellington lacks. The argument isn't that Ellington is too small end of story -- it's that he probably lacks the explosive athletic ability to overcome his lack of size.
Almost every single professional outlet had him pinned as a 3rd or 4th round talent at worst. Most sites you go to that evaluate the draft had him as one of the Top 3-5 RBs in this seasons draft. Why he fell is beyond me and in all honesty beyond a lot of analysts whose job it is to look into this stuff. I'm sure teams had reasons but he was graded as a 3-4th rounder by most. I'm far from talking out of my ### here on that.
Sure, obviously it's 100% necessary to have someone try to run between the tackles. The simple point I'm trying to make (which is different from most people in this thread) is Arians position here is the pure definition of insanity. And tons of coaches are guilty of this, not just Bruce Arians. But when you have a guy who is running 3.0ypc it's clearly not working. Sure, you can blame the offensive line if you want. Blame anything, but you'd assume he would start to TRY and see how other people worked out. Not even just Ellington, try running Smith a lot more up the middle. The point here isn't that "ELLINGTON IS BEING UNDERUTILIZED. ARIANS IS A TARD". It's that Arians is being ridiculous and loyal to Mendy to a fault. He's not being productive, you have other guys on this offense behind him who haven't seen real playing time. They may be better they may be the same but it'd be hard for them to be worse."I think pound-for-pound this kid competes as a pass protector, and I didn't see that when I turned on the tape. He's quicker than fast. His foot speed is balanced. His competitive nature all added up to a third-round pick." -- Mike Mayock
As for Charles and Johnson being outliers they really aren't... if you look at BMI which is a better measure of a RBs build. In terms of how well a play can hold up. It's basic science... a guy who is 6' 200lbs has about the same 'stature' as a guy who is 6' 2" and 215lbs. And in this example a guy who is 5' 11" 199lbs (Charles, Ellington) has the same 'stature' as a guy who is 6' 2" and 217 lbs (Peterson).
Andre Ellington: 27.8
Chris Johnson: 28.3
Jamaal Charles: 27.8
Adrian Peterson: 27.9
OJ Simpson: 27.2
Tony Dorsett: 26.0
Thurman Thomas: 28.7
Marcus Allen: 27.0
All of these guys were tall and light. They were also all amazing, full carry backs in their prime. I'm so absolutely sick and tired of this size argument. It's relevant for QBs and WRs but it's simply not for RBs. Sure, if Ellington was say... 6' and 165lbs that'd be a MUCH different story. But he's not, he falls into the same stature mold as tons and tons of elite past and I'm sure future RBs. Realize, I in know possible way envision him being one of these guys or even half of one of these guys. My point here is to stop this stupid ### argument about RB size in the NFL.
It's completely ridiculous and has 0-zip-nadda evidence to prove that 5'11 199lbs is "undersized". In fact, it's about average for a RB. Most "elite" RBs in the history of the NFL fall into the 27-29 BMI mold. In fact... the real outlier's are the guys who exceed 31-32 BMI. Your Jerome Bettis, Brandon Jacobs, Doug Martin types.
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